Prof Corinne Le Quéré, leading climate scientist at the University of East Anglia (UEA), has commented that the impact of climate change on the US economy may cause President-elect Donald Trump to “adopt a different view than he’s expressed in the past.”

Despite Trump saying he would “cancel” the Paris climate deal, which was signed by nearly 200 countries in December 2015, he could still see a business argument for changing tack, said Prof. Corinne Le Quéré, director of the Tyndall Centre at UEA.

Prof Le Quéré, professor of climate change science and policy, said: “The election of Donald Trump could bring a new dimension to how we address climate change, if he so chooses.

“Donald Trump is a businessman. The biggest leap forward we could make to address climate change is to develop the business economy that will produce energy without the carbon.

“There are huge opportunities for this in America, for example through their leadership in the Silicon Valley, from transforming the car industry to developing cleaner energy grid and storage, bioenergy and the circular economy.

“As Trump is reminded of the damages that climate change is already making to the US economy – particularly through flooding and increasing damage in US coasts from the combination of sea level rise and hurricanes – he might chose a different view on climate change than he’s expressed in the past.”